Till Death Do Us Part
by ShimmeringCrimson
Summary: "Tsuna stills, feeling sick, before forcing his hand into the man's palm. He's hoping it will be quick and painless since he's already so old-looking. The man's hand grips his firmly, and a thousand bloody images flash past his eyes." Death is an inevitable, constant thing – a little more so for Tsuna than anyone else, unfortunately. AU, Psychic-ish!Tsuna, slight All27.
1. Starting

Tsuna has always been different than the other children at school.

Tsuna hates it. He hates being different. He hates being weak and stupid. His body has always been fragile and more viable to illness, so he can't participate in sports or tiring activities. It takes him longer to understand the material they're covering at school, so he drags behind the rest of the class. He's even been nicknamed "Dame-Tsuna" for his inability to do anything right.

It's not fair.

It's hard to concentrate during class. He tries to focus on the words on the board but he's distracted by the different colors glaring at him around the room. Sometimes the colors flick in and out, changing or shifting into another color. Numbers rapidly count down around his classmates' bodies.

One of his peers is helping pass out papers. When he reaches Tsuna, Tsuna deliberately avoids touching the other's skin.

Sometimes it hurts when he touches someone, as if he's being slammed into violently or like he's hit his head hard enough to bleed. Other times it feels like he's gasping for air, struggling to breathe, and then it's gone when he takes his hand away.

It's always been like that, and Tsuna gets used to it; that doesn't mean he likes it.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the day. Tsuna shoulders his bag, ducking his head and making his way out of the elementary school as quickly as he can.

His feet trudge along the road as he walks home. There's a pounding in his head that makes him wince, and he's desperate to get home and take some headache medicine.

He feels dizzy and nauseous. He wants to curl up in a ball and never get up. Today had been a particularly bad day. He'd accidently brushed against a group of girls as they passed each other, and a flash of red had crossed his vision and a high pitched scream had echoed in his ears. His leg felt like it was crushed and it felt as if his ribs had been broken.

He spent twenty minutes crying in the bathroom before showing up late to his class.

Thankfully, he had managed to avoid any bullies. Those were always the worst times. They liked to pin him down and punch him, and the experience was always filled with flashing lights and pleas for help and pain pain pain—

He stops in front of his house, staring at the extra car in his driveway.

He enters his house cautiously, muttering "I'm home," before there's a squeal of "Tuna-fish!" and he suddenly being picked up and twirled.

A blast resonates through his ears, and there's a moment of absolute pain before it's muted and he's surrounded in darkness. He winces as his vision focuses back to the present.

His father notices his wince and the blinding grin wavers for a moment. Then he's put down and he's rambling in his ear.

It seems Iemitsu had gotten some free time off and had brought along his boss.

Tsuna isn't impressed.

His mother smiles at him when she sees him but refrains from touching him. Tsuna is grateful.

"This is my son, Tsunayoshi!" His father is saying, forcing Tsuna to turn and focus on the aging man in front of him.

The man smiles kindly, and Tsuna thinks he looks nice.

"Hello, Tsunayoshi-kun," he says gently. "I'm Timoteo. It's a pleasure to meet you." He holds out his hand.

Tsuna stills, feeling sick, before forcing his hand into Timoteo's palm. He's hoping it will be quick and painless since he's already so old-looking.

The man's hand gripped his firmly, and a thousand bloody images flash past his eyes.

Tsuna quickly extracts his hand, offering a polite "Nice to meet you too," before bolting upstairs to lock himself in the upstairs bathroom.

He heaves into the toilet for a few minutes before flushing it and brushing his teeth.

He tells his mother that he isn't feeling well and she gives him an airy smile. He excuses himself while the two men tell him that they hope he feels better soon.

He avoids the old man for the rest of the time he is there.

/

Tsuna has always remembered being able to see and feel things that he shouldn't. At first, he didn't understand what he was seeing and feeling, and he just assumed everyone else had the same powers.

Eventually he realized that he was the only one who could do such a thing.

When he touched a person, he would feel the pain of their death and see what they would see in their last few moments. Colorful numbers would buzz around others' bodies, twirling around them intricately. Tsuna had found that the more colorful the numbers were, the longer they had to live. The brightest color he had seen so far was a mixture of bright yellow and orange. When someone was about to die very soon, their numbers would turn a flat gray.

Sometimes the numbers would change colors. As far as Tsuna could tell, it was because the time of their death was always changing due to their actions; what they ate, who they were friends with, etc.

If Tsuna focused hard enough, he would be able to make out the swirling numbers and tell when a person was going to die. Tsuna didn't know how to explain it, but it seems that once he concentrated on the numbers his mind automatically unraveled the code surrounding them.

It was difficult to pay attention with all the numbers and colors flying around. They caught his sight and suddenly he would be falling down or answering a question incorrectly. He couldn't stay focused on the teacher long enough to learn anything. He had given up on finding any solutions and had let himself fall into a dull routine of barely trying each day.

Tsuna had grown so accustomed to death that, at times, he felt as if death would be easier than living like this every day.

/

A few years passed and Tsuna definitely looked like it had done its toll on him.

The thirteen-year-old stared blankly at his reflection. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and his hair was limp. His skin was pale and he looked tired. He was skinny and petite – practically the shortest in the class. He had stopped eating a lot after he met a slightly chubby man who had died after stuffing himself with food during a hotdog-eating contest.

Maybe he should skip today? His mother would be disappointed with him though. He had already missed several days this month and if he kept it up Hibari-san would come after him.

Tsuna had managed to avoid Hibari for years now. Knowing the violent Disciplinary President, he would have a bloody and painful death.

Sighing, he decided he might as well go.

/

He ends up leaving halfway through the day.

"Tsu-kun, you left early again?"

His mother is standing in his doorway, looking sad.

"Yes," he answers simply.

"What are you going to do with your life?" she asks. "I'm not saying you have to go to a good high school or college, you know, but I want you to live your life happily!"

Tsuna doubts he will ever be able to live happily with the way soft pink and blue numbers are buzzing around his mother.

"Hm," he hums uninterestedly.

"...That's why, a home tutor is coming today!" his mother continued cheerfully.

Tsuna's stomach drops. "Home tutor?!"

"There was an interesting flyer in the mailbox!"

Tsuna stares at the letter his mother gives to him.

 _Will raise your kid to be the new leader of the next generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter._

 _Reborn_

...It sounds like a scam.

"Ciaossu!"

There's a baby standing in his room.

"...Who are you?"

"Hm? I'm the home tutor, Reborn."

Tsuna deadpans.

Then he notices something. The numbers around Reborn are strange. They flicker down to zero quickly before flying up to numbers as high as seven trillion. At some points the numbers just freeze randomly. The colors flash between dead black and blinding yellow.

Tsuna gets a migraine just from looking at him.

There's something that's not right with this child. Speaking of which, Tsuna doesn't really believe he's a "child" either.

Tsuna wanted him _out._

"I don't need a home tutor," he says, eyes trained on the letter in order to avoid turning his gaze to the small child look-a-like.

"Oh? According to my information you're only passing in two classes. Do you really not need a tutor?"

Tsuna has that sick feeling in his gut again. This is definitely not a baby.

"I don't care. I don't want you here."

Tsuna is barely aware that he is shaking.

"Now, Tsu-kun, I know you don't like it but you really need one you know."

"Exactly, Dame-Tsuna. Sawada-san, why don't you leave us alone so we can get to know each other?"

He distantly hears his mother telling Reborn to call her Maman before she shuts the door.

They're alone now.

Tsuna doesn't say anything, just stares at his shaking hands.

Finally, Reborn breaks the silence.

"My true line of work is assassination."

Why? Why did this have to happen to him?

"My real job is to make you a mafia boss."

Tsuna's hand clench into fists. His nails dig into his palms, and he feels his skin break and blood well up through the cuts.

"Get out."

"Excuse me?" Tsuna doesn't have to look up to recognize the twinge of surprise in Reborn's voice.

"I said _get out!_ "

Tsuna's eyes finally look up to meet the not-child's black ones. He's aware that he looks pathetic right now. He's panting deeply and there are already tears welling in his eyes.

Tsuna knows that Reborn isn't lying to him. This person is really an assassin. And if he was really here to train him to be a mafia boss...

Tsuna already had enough trouble trying to avoid the amount of death he witnessed on a normal day. If he got involved with the mafia, he had no doubt that he would be in a constant state of blood and headaches and death death _death_ —

Tsuna doesn't want to live like that.

The last thing he sees before he passes out from hyperventilating is Reborn's shocked gaze.

/

Tsunayoshi Sawada is nothing like the file said.

According to the report he had received, Tsuna was shy and clumsy and always messing up. He skipped school regularly and tended to avoid interaction of any kind. He was failing almost all of his classes and he was bullied. He had migraines daily and even had prescripted medication for them. He didn't have any friends. He was happiest when he was reading his manga alone in his room. He had some skills in cooking but that was pretty much the only thing he could do right.

What the file had not said was the way Tsuna was always tired, waking up from nightmares almost every night. It didn't say anything about the way he avoided physical contact or how pained he looked whenever he got a migraine. There was nothing about his extreme wariness of meeting new people or how Tsuna was clever enough to recognize that Reborn wasn't a baby. Either that or Tsuna's Hyper Intuition was already extremely high. The file said nothing about the miserable, dull outlook he had. The way he didn't like looking at anyone and how it had nothing to do with being shy.

When Reborn had been assigned with the task of training a civilian into the Vongola Decimo, he had expected some pathetic kid who was noisy and annoying. He didn't think he would arrive to find a frightened boy who seemed to have extreme anxiety and possibly even depression. He might even have an eating disorder since Tsuna was so small and barely seemed to eat.

None of this information had been in his file. Of course, Iemitsu had written it so he shouldn't have been surprised.

Something was wrong with Tsuna and he intended to find out what it was.

* * *

 _my first khr fic! it was fun to write ww  
this is going to be a side fic for me since im already focused on my ao no exorcist story, but i will be continuing this  
i'd love to hear what you have to say so please review!_


	2. Greeting

"Why are you following me?"

"What are you talking about, Dame-Tsuna? As your tutor, I need to be with you at all times," Reborn responds.

Tsuna frowns, lips thinning in displeasure. However, he does not argue again, instead deciding to ignore the baby hitman.

"Ah, Sawada-kun!"

Tsuna turns at the sound of the soft voice.

"Sasagawa-san," he says politely. "May I help you with something?"

Kyoko Sasagawa is a pretty brunette in Tsuna's class. Unlike the majority of his peers, Kyoko always treats Tsuna with kindness. It was honestly really refreshing to be around someone so pure.

Not only that, but when Tsuna touches her, he barely feels a twinge of pain. She's one of the few in his class that dies painlessly in her sleep at the ripe old age of eighty-five.

"Ah, you missed the last lesson yesterday, so I copied down the notes for you!"

Tsuna blinks before a genuine smile appears on his face.

"Thank you very much, Sasagawa-san. I'll be sure to look over them carefully."

"It was nothing!" she smiled.

"Ciaossu!" a voice squeaks next to them.

Kyoko pauses, taking in the small childlike appearance. "Kya! How cute! Is this your younger brother, Sawada-kun?"

"Absolutely not," Tsuna denies at the same time Reborn claims, "I'm the number one hitman in the world, Reborn. I'm Dame-Tsuna's tutor."

Kyoko doesn't miss a beat. "A hitman, huh? Wow, that's really cool!" She pats him on the head, and Tsuna is mildly surprised when he allows her.

"I have to go now," Kyoko says regretfully, looking apologetic. "I promised to help a friend out before school. See you later, Sawada-kun, Reborn-chan!"

Reborn glances at him. "You tolerate her more than the rest of your classmates." Tsuna hums in agreement, not wanting to think about how the hitman had gathered the information. "Do you like her?"

Tsuna freezes for a moment before he laughs.

"No, I don't like Sasagawa-san," he chuckles. "She's just more comfortable to be around, I guess."

"I see," Reborn says, fedora shadowing his eyes.

When they reach the school, they are greeted to the sight of Mochida, an upperclassman, asking Kyoko out on a date.

"Kyoko, will you go out with me?" Mochida asks, smiling.

Kyoko looks uncomfortable. "W-well, Mochida-senpai, I'm really honored, but..."

Mochida ignores the 'but.' "That's great! I was thinking that we could go to the new restaurant that opened."

"U-um," Kyoko looks hesitant. "I'm really sorry, Mochida-senpai, but I just don't have feelings for you like that!" She bows.

Mochida frowns irritably. "Can't you just give it a shot?" he tries again.

"I'm sorry," Kyoko repeats. "I'm not interested. But we can be friends!"

Mochida scowls. "I'll definitely change your mind with one date!" he insists.

"Sasagawa-san already turned you down, Mochida-senpai," Tsuna says as he passes through the gap between them, startling the two. "Not only that, but you're causing quite the crowd."

Mochida pales slightly at the mention of the word 'crowd,' but he manages to scowl at the boy who was already walking away from them.

"That's none of your business, Dame-Tsuna! Why don't you go back to the only girl who likes you – your mother!" There's a scatter of laughter.

Tsuna pauses. "At least I don't have to force my mother to like me," he turns his head, smiling sweetly.

Stunned silence plagues the surrounding students. Mochida recovers, face red. "If you like Kyoko so much, then let's fight after school today! Whoever wins get Kyoko as the prize."

The bell rings, signaling the time to get to class. "See you later, Dame-Tsuna!" Mochida jeers.

"Why does everyone think I like Sasagawa-san?" Tsuna mutters in confusion.

"So?" Reborn asks, popping out from behind a bush. "Are you going to go to the match?"

Tsuna rolls his eyes. "No way. Participating in something that stupid is ridiculous."

Reborn frowns. "A boss never backs out from his word."

"Then I suppose it is a good thing I never agreed to the fight," Tsuna counters. "Besides, Sasagawa-san isn't a prize to be fought over."

A squeak directs his attention to a blushing Kyoko.

"A-ah, Tsuna-kun!" Tsuna raises his eyebrow at the sudden change from 'Sawada-kun' to 'Tsuna-kun.' "Thank you for standing up for me!"

Tsuna shrugs. "I just did what anyone else would have done," he said, readjusting the straps on his bag and starting towards his first class.

Kyoko stares after him with pink cheeks.

"But you were the only one who said anything at all," she whispers, too low for the boy to hear.

/

Tsuna doesn't bother going to the kendo match.

Reborn is disappointed in him, but he doesn't push him, not wanting to cause a reaction like the day before.

/

"Hey, Dame-Tsuna!" Tsuna barely has time to look up before he is slammed into the wall. "What do you think you were doing, standing me up like that yesterday?!"

Tsuna frowns in confusion. "Huh? 'Standing you up'...? I didn't know we had a date planned, Mochida-senpai."

Mochida snarls. "You know what I mean! The fight, you idiot!"

Tsuna tilts his head. "I don't recall agreeing to that."

Mochida looks angry, and suddenly a fist slams into his cheek.

Tsuna gasps, not because of the pain that is surely going to bruise his face, but the poison running through his veins and the flashes of bright light flickering across his vision.

He crumples into a ball of the ground. Mochida looks satisfied.

"That will show you, Dame-Tsuna!"

/

He ends up getting in trouble with his teacher for being late to class.

/

During the lunch period, Hana Kurokawa approaches him.

"Sawada," she greets, dark eyes focusing on the forming bruise on his left cheek before reaching his eyes.

"Kurokawa-san."

"I heard how you stood up for Kyoko." She hesitates. "You're not as much of a monkey that I thought you were."

With that, she walks away.

Tsuna stares after her for a moment before stuffing a mini sausage into his mouth.

/

His team loses in P.E., and he's forced to clean up by himself.

"Since you made us lose, you can clean up for us, right Dame-Tsuna?" one of his classmates says, looking at him with undisguised disgust.

Tsuna says nothing, causing the other to sneer and shove the broom in his hands.

"Maa, maa," Takeshi Yamamoto says. "It's not that big of a deal, right? I'll help too!"

"Geez, Yamamoto," the other student brightens up at the sight of the baseball player. "You don't have to do that. You should be spending your time on something more important, like practicing for the next game, right? Dame-Tsuna can handle a little dirt."

Yamamoto's smile has faded slightly. "It's fine! It will take less time if we do it together anyway!"

"If you're sure," he says doubtfully. "But make sure to be prepared for that game next week, okay? You're our star baseball player after all!"

"Yeah, no problem!" Yamamoto's smile is strained.

"Then I'll see you later!" The classmate waves goodbye.

There's a moment of awkward silence.

"So? Why did you really offer to help out?" Tsuna asks blandly as he starts sweeping.

"Can't I just want to help?" Yamamoto asks.

"I suppose you could," Tsuna concedes. "But that's not really the reason why you did, is it?"

Yamamoto's smile slips off his face. "Who knew Dame-Tsuna would be so insightful?"

Tsuna doesn't say anything, and Yamamoto sighs.

"Well...I actually wanted some advice," he admits sheepishly.

Tsuna arches an eyebrow. "Advice? From me?"

"Yeah. I don't really think I can ask any of the others."

Yamamoto doesn't offer a reason why he believes this and Tsuna doesn't ask.

"Lately I've been off during my games, I feel like I'm not improving at all. I even missed a hit yesterday during practice." Yamamoto places a hand on Tsuna's arm. "Do you know what I should do?"

Tsuna's breath catches as he sees the colors around Yamamoto flicker into gray and back to red again.

 _"_ _The baseball gods have thrown me away. I have nothing else."_

His head aches, like it's been cracked open like an egg.

Tsuna jerks his arm away from Yamamoto.

"Sawada?" Yamamoto looks concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Tsuna says harshly, calming himself down. The colors around Yamamoto have raised to a pale blue, mixing with flecks of gray.

"I think you should take a break sometimes," Tsuna says suddenly.

"Huh?" Yamamoto says in confusion.

"You asked me what you should do. Sometimes, if you're working too hard, you over exhaust yourself and your ability goes down. If you really want to improve, you should start taking better care of yourself."

Yamamoto brightens, streams of bright red numbers spinning around his arms. "Thanks, Sawada!" he says, looking relieved. "I'm in your debt!"

Yamamoto pats his back, grinning. Tsuna stares as he laughs, jogging away from the field.

Tsuna sighs, looking around him.

He ends up having to clean up by himself.

/

He meets Kyoko as he is exiting the school.

"Tsuna-kun!" she beams.

"Sasagawa-san," he greets.

"Call me Kyoko!" she insists.

"Kyoko-san, then," Tsuna says doubtfully. "Was there something you needed?"

"Um, I was wondering, well...," Kyoko trails off, shifting from one foot to another out of nervous habit. "Maybe you would want to go get something to eat together one day?"

She looks hopeful.

Tsuna is reasonably hesitant.

"He would love to," the ever-present bane of his life says. "How does Saturday sound?"

Kyoko lights up. "That would be great! See you then, Tsuna-kun!"

"Why," Tsuna despairs.

"You need to start socializing more. As a boss, you're expected to be able to handle any interaction," Reborn answers cheerfully.

"I don't want to be a boss."

"Too bad, you don't have a choice," Reborn looks entirely too happy.

For the first time, Tsuna wishes for the pain of another person.

/

"Class, this is Gokudera Hayato, he's a transfer student from Italy."

There are excited whispers and giggles from around the room. Tsuna hears the word 'hot' mentioned several times.

The only thing Tsuna can focus on is the sparking red numbers circling him.

"Gokudera-san, your seat is over here-"

The silver-haired boy ignores the teacher as he makes his way to Tsuna's row. He's glaring daggers at Tsuna and Tsuna feels he has no one else to blame except for Reborn.

The transfer student slams his hands on Tsuna's desk, pushing it over and scowling harshly at him. "Pathetic," he spats.

Tsuna stares blankly at him before sighing and leaning over to pick up his desk.

The student's hand brushes against his momentarily as Tsuna rights his desk. There's pain as limbs fly everywhere, sizzles of smoke rising from his clothes, burnt skin overflowing his senses-

Gokudera reluctantly parts and moves to sit at his assigned seat when the teacher calls out his name again, but he does not take his angry eyes away from Tsuna for the rest of the period.

/

"If I really kill this guy, I can become the Vongola Decimo?"

"That's right," Reborn answers, far too friendly.

"That's okay," Tsuna says. "You don't have to kill me. You can have the title. I don't want it."

Gokudera snarls. "You're just trying to trick me! Take this!"

A bomb is thrown at him, and Tsuna barely manages to avoid having his arm blown up.

Gokudera looks agitated that Tsuna has dodged, and in retaliation he begins to ramp up the number of bombs.

Tsuna sees a handful of bombs fly through the air, but instead of going towards Tsuna, they are aimed at Gokudera.

Tsuna is suddenly reminded of the burnt skin and sizzled hair and melted bones, and he makes the split-second decision of slamming into Gokudera and pushing them out of the way of the explosives.

"Are you okay?" Tsuna asks, panting from the exertion of so much exercise.

"TENTH! I'll serve you forever!" Gokudera is bowing at his feet.

"Eh?"

"Congratulations, Dame-Tsuna, you're acquired your first Family member," Reborn says with that constant, irritating smile.

"Eh?" Tsuna says again.

"When I heard that Vongola Decimo was going to be some snot-nosed brat the same age as me, I had to come and evaluate you!" Gokudera explains, and Tsuna can practically seeing the wagging tail. "But you are truly worth the title of the Tenth!"

"Please don't call me that," Tsuna says immediately and somewhat depressingly.

"I cannot. Tenth is Tenth."

Tsuna hates his life.

/

"Yamamoto's gonna jump off the roof!"

Tsuna's body autopilots.

He's out of breath when he reaches the rooftop. He pushes his way through the crowd to see Yamamoto standing on the edge on the building, outside of the protective fence.

"Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna calls.

Yamamoto turns, a bitter smile on his face. "Oh? Even Dame-Tsuna has come to see me? To mock me for ignoring his advice?" He motions his hand to the cast of his arm. "I'm so stupid, to think that Dame-Tsuna came up with a better solution than me."

"Yamamoto-san, what are you talking about?" Tsuna asks carefully.

"I didn't listen to what you told me. In the end, I practiced too hard, and now my arm is broken and the baseball gods have thrown me away."

Tsuna's heart skips a beat.

"I have nothing to live for."

Yamamoto starts to turn to the edge again, and Tsuna blurts out, "That's stupid!"

The taller teen freezes. "Excuse me?" He laughs. "I see, so now Dame-Tsuna-sama is higher than me!"

"You're an idiot, Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna shouts. Stunned silence surrounds them. "How could you say you have nothing to live for?!"

"Huh?"

Tsuna climbs over the fence to reach Yamamoto, glaring at him.

"What about your father? He's already lost his wife, hasn't he? How do you think he would feel if he lost his son too?!"

Tears well up in Yamamoto's eyes. Clearly he hadn't even considered his father.

"Yamamoto-san, your injury is temporary. You'll be able to replace your broken bone for a healed one. But there's only one of you – so you shouldn't be so careless as to throw away your life over a stupid broken arm!"

Shakily, Yamamoto exhales. "I get it. I was really being stupid, huh?"

Tsuna relaxes. "Yes. Why don't we get off this roof, Yamamoto-san?"

Yamamoto smiles. "Sounds like a plan."

Then, the fence breaks.

They both lose their balance and tip over the side.

 _Why me,_ Tsuna laments inwardly.

Tsuna grabs Yamamoto's arms, and his vision is filled with cracked heads and skill bodies. He forces himself to ignore it, and he twists so they are angled towards the grass and bushes.

Tsuna lands on his side and winces in pain as he crashes into the prickly bush and thumps onto the ground. Yamamoto is cushioned by a much comfier-looking bush as he lands on his bottom.

"Haha, looks like you saved us, Tsuna! Isn't that great?" Yamamoto was looking way too cheerful for someone who had been contemplating suicide a few minutes ago.

"Fantastic," Tsuna wheezed.

/

"Hey, Tsuna!" Yamamoto greets casually at the entrance of Tsuna's house.

"Don't talk to the Tenth like that!" Gokudera fumes.

Tsuna sighs as the fight escalates exactly as it has for the past three days.

Tsuna supposes this is as close to normal as he will get.

/

Kyoko and Tsuna end up going out to a small bakery.

For the most part, Tsuna enjoys himself. Kyoko is nice, the food is decent, and he doesn't have a crippling headache.

Of course, the honest reason he was having such a good time was because Reborn wasn't there to mock him or try to shoot him.

About halfway through the outing, Tsuna notices something odd. At first, he can't really place the squirming feeling in his stomach, but after a while it dawns on him.

The colors buzzing around Kyoko have changed color.

Instead of the brilliant neon yellow that had toned her numbers, there was a deep blue washing across her.

Tsuna tries not to think about it too much.

When they finish their cake, Tsuna and Kyoko walk until they get to the point where they go in opposite directions. Kyoko smiles warmly at Tsuna, thanking him for the wonderful day out.

Tsuna doesn't really know why she seems to be so happy, but he goes along with it.

Then she reaches over and gives him a hug.

And the pain that encases Tsuna is nothing like the twinge of peacefulness he had always felt before.

Now it is sharp and pointed, directed in his stomach. His arms and ankles feel like they have been tied together for hours, and they have rubbed together so much that they are now raw. He feels thirsty, like he hasn't had anything to drink all day. He feels cramped and it's dark.

There's shouting and screaming around him. And all at once, a knife is plunging through his stomach, and his blood is forming in puddles around him. It feels like it takes an hour to die.

He must have been pale when Kyoko lets go of him because Kyoko asks if he's feeling alright. Tsuna claims he is and starts his way back home in a daze.

What could have happened that would have so drastically changed Kyoko's future? Before, she would have lived a long and peaceful life. Now, she only has twenty more years to live and her death is painful and harsh.

Tsuna arrives home, slumping onto his bed and breathing out a sigh of relief that Reborn wasn't there to make him run laps. His mind drifted back to Kyoko at the thought of Reborn.

Ah, there was something that had changed in Kyoko's life recently, wasn't there?

After all, Tsuna and Kyoko had become friends a few short days earlier. Tsuna hadn't touched her at all since the day she met Reborn, and suddenly Kyoko's life span and death had changed drastically.

Tsuna was now dragging other people into a miserable life, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

* * *

 _thanks for all the support! it really means a lot!  
i felt like reborn wasn't really in this chapter at all but im lazy so im not going to go back and edit again lol  
please review! they help a bunch in motivating me!_


	3. Pounding

"What's the answer to number three?"

"Twenty-two," Tsuna responds, looking at the gun in Reborn's hand warily.

"Correct. Number six."

Tsuna hesitates. "Nine?"

"Wrong." Tsuna lunges to the right as a bullet shoots past his head.

"What kind of tutor shoots at their student?!" Tsuna scowls, picking himself off the ground and repositioning himself at the table.

"The greatest tutor in the world does," Reborn answers cheerfully.

" _Gyahaha, Reborn!"_

Tsuna stares forlornly as a cow-looking child barges through his window.

"It's me, the great Lambo-sama! I have found you, Reborn!" The self-appointed Lambo cackles and Tsuna isn't even surprised anymore by the strange people popping up in his life.

"Here's the solution to that problem," Reborn says without acknowledging the child.

"Um..." Tsuna stares blankly as Reborn starts to work out the problem.

"Die, Reborn!" Lambo points a gun straight at them.

"First, you divide this number here and add the two and four," Reborn continues.

"Reborn..." Tsuna watches as the boy's numbers flick from bright green to gray suddenly and rapidly.

"Yes? Are you having trouble understanding?" The numbers waver and go back to green. Apparently distracting Reborn from his tortu—tutoring causes the boy's lifespan to decrease.

 _How scary!_

"Ah...no, please continue," Tsuna decides to ignore the cow-child in an attempt to save Lambo's life.

"Take this!" Lambo presses down on the trigger...and nothing comes out.

"Gyahh! I ran out of bullets when I was playing 'Ready, Go!' yesterday!"

 _Snap!_

Tsuna winces as Lambo jumps back on to the tree next to his window and the branch breaks under the pressure.

"To-ler-ate," Tsuna hears him sniffle. There's the sound of him running and then there's silence.

Suddenly the doorbell is ringing over and over again.

"Reborn-kun! Let's play!"

"...and that's how you get the answer," Reborn finishes.

His bedroom door slams open. "Long time, no see, Reborn! It's me, Lambo!"

"He's kind of...annoying," Tsuna mumbles and he swears he sees Reborn's lips twitch upward.

"Remember this formula here." Reborn points in the book.

"Don't ignore me!" Lambo wails. "I'll kill you!"

 _Pow!_ Tsuna looks at the boy in concern for both his physical and mental state. Reborn had just slammed him into a wall without even glancing in Lambo's direction.

"I, Lambo-san, five years old, from Italy, a hitman from the Bovino Family, tripped! Favorite foods are grapes and candy and I, Lambo-san, who met Reborn in a bar, just tripped!"

"So with this formula, solve this," Reborn slides a problem to him.

Tears well up in the boy's eyes. "To-ler-ate!"

Tsuna watches as he is hit by a grenade and blown through the window.

"Reborn, do you know him?" Tsuna finally asks The Question.

"No. I don't associate with those of a lower rank than me," Reborn says smoothly. Tsuna sweatdrops.

"Tsu-kun! Could you come here for a second?" his mother calls. Tsuna excuses himself from the work and stops at the bottom of the stairs.

"This is Reborn-kun's friend, right?" His mother motions to the snot-covered Lambo. "Did they fight?"

Tsuna stares at his mother in horror, already able to tell where she was going with this.

"Tsu-kun, you're older so you have to help them make up, okay? I'm going to go make dinner, so I'll leave it to you!" His mother beams and is gone in an instant.

Lambo immediately latches onto his leg and Tsuna is grateful he's not wearing shorts so he doesn't have to deal with this child's death.

"...Do you want me to get Reborn?" Tsuna asks awkwardly, trying not to grimace from the tears and snot seeping into his pants.

Lambo started shaking in fear.

"...That's a no, I guess."

Tsuna sighs, wondering what he's supposed to do with this crying child clinging to his leg.

"You like candy, right?" Lambo peers up from where he had previously hid his face.

After that, it didn't take long for Lambo to start rambling on about his mission to kill Reborn. Tsuna pities him because he knows it's never going to happen.

"Take this, Reborn!" Lambo screams for what must be the twentieth time in the past hour. The sloppy child throws his fork and Reborn easily redirects it so that it hits Lambo right between the eyes.

"To-ler-ate," Lambo sobs while pointing a giant bazooka at himself. He fires, and suddenly there's a cloud of smoke surrounding him.

"Huh? It seems I was taken back ten years."

There was now a calm-looking teenager where the bratty child had been before. Dark eyes drifted to Tsuna's, widening.

"Tsuna-nii," he breathes, taking a step forward.

Reborn is now paying attention to the scene as the teen reaches toward Tsuna in a move to hug to move him. Tsuna flinches and he halts, hand freezing a few inches away from him. Tsuna notices the numbers around him glowing brightly, and the teen follows the movement of Tsuna's eyes. His hand drops, landing limply next to his side.

"Tsuna-nii," he repeats softly. He hesitates, and Tsuna blinks in confusion. "This time, please hold on. We'll definitely save you."

Before Tsuna can ask what he means, there's a puff of smoke and Lambo is sitting on the floor, still sniffling.

He doesn't notice as Reborn narrows his eyes thoughtfully.

/

"There's a girl following us," Tsuna observes as he walks back from school.

"Yes," Reborn agrees. "It seems my training has started to kick in."

"Rather than 'training' being the cause of my observation, I'd like to think it's called 'having eyes,'" Tsuna rolls his eyes, indicating the rather loud girl walking on the wall behind them. Not only that, but her numbers were a blaring light green that buzzed around irritatingly.

"E-excuse me," the girl calls, rushing to catch up with them. She's looking at Reborn when she says, "I'm Haru Miura."

"I know," Reborn chirps. "You live in that house over there."

She blushes and Tsuna is more than a little disturbed that Reborn has memorized who lives in his neighborhood.

"Would you be my friend?" she asks excitedly.

"Sure," Reborn says agreeably. Haru's eyes light up.

"Then...could you hug me?" She opens her arms.

"Don't touch me so easily, 'cause I'm a hitman," Reborn announces. Tsuna refrains from slapping a hand to his forehead.

It turns out that Tsuna doesn't have to hit himself because Haru does it for him.

There's a flash of pain as a disease finally kills her after three years of battling it when she is in her sixties, and Tsuna is left cradling his red cheek.

"You're a bastard! What are you teaching him?!"

Tsuna blinks, still holding his cheek. "Huh?"

"Babies are angels with pure hearts!" she declares. "You're destroying his pureness with your rottenness!"

"...I didn't teach him any of that?" he says, making it come out like a question.

"Liar! You're his older brother, aren't you?!"

"Perish the thought," Tsuna says, making a face.

"That's even worse! You're tainting someone else's child!"

"That's not possible, he was already tainted when I met him."

Haru looks extremely offended. "That's it! From now on, you're not allowed to see Reborn-chan!"

"That wouldn't work," Reborn pipes up. Tsuna is ready to go ahead and start digging his grave.

"It's my job to raise Tsuna as the tenth boss of the mafia. We can't be separated until then."

Tsuna ducks as a fist flies toward his face.

"I'll come rescue Reborn-chan soon," Haru vows. She turn to the baby hitman. "Bye, Reborn-chan!"

Tsuna is speechless as Haru sends one last glare to Tsuna before leaving.

"...You know, none of these things happened to me before you came along," Tsuna speaks monotonously to Reborn.

Reborn's smile grows a little wider.

/

Tsuna tucks a strand of hair back, ignoring the yelling behind him.

"I'm the Tenth's right hand! You're the shoulder blade!"

"Huh? But I want to be Tsuna's right hand. You can be the ear lobe."

"Stupid, then by that logic you're his nose hair!"

"Congratulations, Dame-Tsuna, you've gained another Family member," Reborn says casually, as if he hadn't just thrown a flurry of weapons at Yamamoto a few minutes ago.

"That's impossible," Tsuna replies. "I'm not involved in such criminal activities, after all." Tsuna was stubborn in his insistence on being as normal as he could be, and being a mafia boss was as far from normal as one could get.

"You can deny it all you want, but you will be the Vongola Tenth," Reborn says, watching as Tsuna moves the vegetables around in the pan so they wouldn't get burned.

Tsuna's response is interrupted as the doorbell rings.

"Pizza delivery!"

Tsuna frowns. "Pizza? I didn't order any pizza."

He automatically turned to look at the smiling Reborn suspiciously.

"Bianchi is in town," he offers.

"Bianchi?" Even the name sounded deadly.

"She's an assassin known as the 'Poison Scorpion.'"

Tsuna sighs. He might as well get this over with.

He moves the cooked vegetables on to a plate and wipes his hands on a towel. Opening the door, he's a little surprised to see a beautiful young woman at the door holding a pizza box.

"Enjoy!" Tsuna hurries to cover his face as she opens the box, noting the gas mask firmly in place on Bianchi's face. Fumes are rising from the off-colored pizza. The pizza is clearly inedible.

The box flies out of Bianchi's hand a moment later when Reborn shoots it.

"Ciaossu, Bianchi," Reborn greets.

"Huh?" Tsuna mutters. "Why are you so polite with the people trying to kill me?"

They both ignore him.

"Reborn!" Bianchi's face is filled with adoration as she slips off the mask. "I'm here to take you back. Let's do another job together."

"So this means it's your fault for her being here?"

"I told you, Bianchi. I have a job to raise Tsuna, so I can't," Reborn says, flat-out ignoring Tsuna again.

"Poor Reborn," Bianchi wipes her eyes dramatically. "You won't be free until the Tenth dies!" Her eyes gleam and Tsuna's gut is telling him to run.

"How dedicated," Tsuna says instead.

"We used to go out," Reborn answers Tsuna's unspoken question. "She's my fourth lover."

"I'm here for love!" Bianchi declares.

"She's here for work," Reborn says.

"Reborn needs me," she sighs, fluttering her eyelashes.

"I asked her to tutor you partly," Reborn continues.

"Could you have possibly broken up due to miscommunication?" Tsuna deadpans.

"Tenth! I heard a gunshot! Is everything okay?" Gokudera rushes into the room with Yamamoto following closely.

"Hayato!" Bianchi exclaims. The dark purple numbers around her swirl excitedly.

"Y-y-y-you!" Gokudera shrieks, turning green and swaying dangerously. He hits the ground with a thump.

"Ahaha! He passed out!" Yamamoto said cheerfully.

' _That's not something to laugh about!_ '

Tsuna can feel a headache threatening to overcome him.

The pounding in his head is so distracting that he doesn't even notice when Bianchi leans over and grips his arm.

The overwhelming pain crippling his body combined with the migraine he already had causes him to clutch his head in pain, stumbling and hitting the wall. White dots blink in his eyesight and it's hard to breathe. From what he can tell, Poison Scorpion Bianchi has been caught at her own game. The death is slow and unbearable, filled with hot and cold flashes and his heart is slowly disintegrating in his own body. He feels drops of water hit him, the rain trailing tear-like traces down his cheeks. His last sight is the cloudy sky above him.

"Tsuna!" he hears a voice calling. Huh? That's not right, shouldn't he be alone?

"Look at me, Dame-Tsuna," a smooth voice says, worry undercoating the words.

He tries to focus his eyes, vision blurring and brain thumping against his skull. He manages to make out a small figure in front of him.

"R-Reborn?" he mumbles, squinting.

"Do you know where you are?" his tutor asks, uncharacteristically serious.

"I-," Tsuna stops. Where was he? On the side of the road, slowly dying alone and cold? No, that wasn't right. He makes out the familiar wallpaper and table. "H-home. I'm home." He almost sobs at the realization.

"That's right, Tsuna," Reborn continues. "Can you tell me what hurts?" Tsuna is vaguely aware of Yamamoto's wide, worried eyes and Bianchi's shocked face.

"Head," he whispers, clenching his eyes shut. "Pills," he adds, hoping Reborn will manage to understand him.

He does. "Yamamoto, go get Tsuna's pills from his room. They're in the top drawer in his nightstand." Yamamoto rushes to follow Reborn's orders.

"Do you know what happened?" Reborn asks carefully, as if he is a fragile piece of glass.

"Sorry," Tsuna says, tears welling up in his eyes and distorting his sight. He's looking at Bianchi, barely able to think through the ringing in his ears. "Sorry," he repeats.

Bianchi is too stunned to say anything as she stares with an open mouth.

Time blurs and suddenly Reborn is holding a glass of water up to his lips. He swallows the pills he's offered, slumping as the medication begins to kick in and a numbness slowly washes over him. His eyelids droop from exhaustion, and he hears Reborn telling to sleep if he's that tired.

Tsuna's body relaxes as sleep overtakes him.

/

"So? Why did you call me over on such short notice, Reborn?"

Shamal's interest peaks at Reborn's concerned look.

"I need you to treat the Tenth Vongola," Reborn says.

"No way," Shamal immediately declines. "You know my policy, Reborn. I only treat girls."

Shamal shivers when he hears Reborn's gun click. "Let me rephrase that. You _will_ treat the Tenth Vongola."

"...What's wrong with him?" Shamal asks instead of answering. Usually Reborn isn't so insistent so the situation must be bad.

"I don't know," Reborn answers, brows furrowed. Shamal raises an eyebrow. "He has chronic migraines and he has medication for them, but he's already been taking it for over a year. By now his headaches should have at the very least decreased, but they seem to be worse. He passed out from the pain of one an hour ago. The nearest hospitals don't have the necessary equipment to diagnose him as well as you, so I called you."

Shamal frowns thoughtfully. "Fine, I'll take a look at him," he sighs. "But you owe me one, Reborn."

Reborn inclines his head in agreement. "Very well. His room is the first one on the right."

Shamal stands up, grabbing his supplies as he makes his way to the room. Shamal is mildly surprised to see Hayato Gokudera, but the teen just looks at him grimly when he passes. There's another teenager next to him, along with a kid that Shamal vaguely remembers from the Bovino Family. They're all sitting outside the room Reborn directed him to, and they clear out of the way when he opens the door.

Closing the door behind him, he eyes the future Vongola boss. The child – because that's what he is, a child, small and young – is pale and breathing evenly on the bed.

Shamal snaps on a pair of gloves, pulling up a chair and getting out his materials.

"Alright, Vongola, let's see what's going on in your head," he mutters.

* * *

 _ahhh almost 100 follows already?! that means so much guys, and double thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
review! B)_


	4. Celebrating

The first thing Tsuna notices when he wakes up is that his headache has now reduced to a dull ache.

The second thing he notices is the body flying towards him.

"Tenth!" a voice wails, clinging to Tsuna and getting snot and tears all over him. Tsuna tries to cover up his grimace.

"G-Gokudera-kun, you're crushing me," Tsuna wheezes, ignoring the scent of burned skin and the flash of raging fire threatening to overcome him.

Gokudera rockets backwards, apologizing profusely. The spiky-haired boy sweatdrops.

"You really had us worried, Tsuna!" Yamamoto says lightly, although his eyes are darker with concern.

"Yes, Dame-Tsuna," a voice next to him says, and Tsuna tries not to shiver in fear. "Does this kind of thing happen often?"

The boy scratches his cheek nervously. "Um...not recently," he mumbles, eyeing his tutor as if the baby hitman would lash out at any moment for not telling him every detail of his medical history.

"Oh?" Reborn hums, expression unreadable.

"Well," a new voice says, and Tsuna turns to the source as he walks through the door. "It seems your medication is a little weak."

"Who are you?" Tsuna asks, staring at the scowling man.

"That's Dr. Shamal, one of the best doctors in the world," Reborn answers. Tsuna notices Gokudera discreetly glaring at the man but he decides to ignore it for the moment.

"I can't believe I had to treat a _guy_ ," Shamal moans, shivering. "I feel sick even thinking about it."

"I'm sorry for not being a girl?" Tsuna says, the sentence coming out questioningly.

Shamal ignores him. "Here's his new medication," the doctors says, handing a bottle of orange pills to Reborn. "Have him take one before bed every night."

He hesitates for a moment, gaze flickering to Tsuna. A feeling of unease forms in Tsuna, but before he can understand the meaning of his look, the man is already walking out of his bedroom.

"Now that my job is done, I'm going to go check out some cute girls!" he announces.

"I'll walk you out," Reborn says. He looks back at Tsuna before he exits the room. "Stay here."

Tsuna almost wants to protest at the order, but he knows that will only bring him pain, so he sighs in resignation and flops back down on to his pillow.

/

"So? What did you find out?" Reborn asks the moment they are out of the room.

Shamal frowns, pulling out Sawada's file and flipping to a certain page. "There's something different about his mind," Shamal answers.

Reborn's attention sharpens. "Different? How?"

"It's not life-threatening, like a tumor," Shamal assures, understanding the meaning behind Reborn's question. "Any normal doctor would just figure it's nothing, but some parts of Vongola's brain are a little more...well, the only way I can put it is _advanced_."

"Advanced?" Reborn questions.

The doctor brings a hand to his chin. "I've never seen anything like it, so I can't really compare it to anything accurately, but there is an increased usage of the Parietal lobe and the Occipital lobe compared to a normal brain."*

"And? What does that mean for Tsuna?"

Sighing, Shamal rubs his forehead. "Honestly? I have no idea. So far the only symptoms he seems to be showing are his migraines and this passing out business, but as far as I can tell that's the worst it will get. I'll contact you if I find out any more information."

/

"Tsunayoshi Sawada."

Tsuna freezes, slowly looking up at the second most terrifying thing in the world. (The first is Reborn.)

"You have been absent for three days. For skipping school, I will bite you to death."

The color from Tsuna's face drains and he is terrified to see the rest of the students fleeing into the building at the infamous words.

"H-Hibari-san, I can explain," he stutters nervously, taking a step backwards.

"Oh?" The Disciplinary President says, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I was sick!" Tsuna hastens to explain.

"Is that so?" Dark eyes gaze at his shaking form. "Then, where is your doctor's note?"

Tsuna blanches. "A-ah! My doctor's note, yeah..." He started patting his pockets. "Where did I put that thing?"

Hibari is looking at him. Tsuna can feel his Evil Look of Doom.

"Oh, there it is!" Tsuna says suddenly, and then drops his bag and runs like the hounds of hell are on his heels.

It's not his best plan, but to his credit it takes a second for Hibari to realize that someone actually ran away from him.

Tsuna darts around the corner of the school, running faster than he ever has in his life, including the time Reborn set tigers loose on him. He can hear the clang of Hibari's tonfas hitting each other and a streak of terror flies through him. His speed increases, and as he is running he sees a tree. Tsuna can admit that he has done many stupid things in his life, but his next decision tops all of that.

Idiotically, Tsuna climbs the tree.

He does not understand why he made the assumption that Hibari cannot get him while he is in a tree, but he did and now he is clinging to this tree while the Devil Himself stares up at him.

Once he sees that there is no escape, Tsuna decides to give Hibari his will.

That is, the will to where his things will go after his death.

"Hibari-san, please give my comics to Yamamoto-san, and my fish plate to Gokudera-san, and my extra candies to Lambo, and my stuffed bear to my mother, and Bianchi can have my pots and pans. Don't give anything to Reborn, though; he'll probably make fun of my dead body when he sees it so he doesn't deserve my things." Tsuna is aware that he is ranting, but at least Hibari is not hacking at his body.

"Herbivore, shut up." Tsuna's mouth automatically closes. "I am going to bite you to death. You have three seconds to run."

Maybe Hibari is feeling merciful today. Tsuna isn't going to wait around for him to change his mind, though, so once again he is dashing as far away from the prefect he can get within three seconds.

It's not very far.

Tsuna shrieks and narrowly dodges having his head taken off. There's a moment of awkward silence as Hibari stares in disbelief at the place where his tonfa missed Tsuna's head.

Hibari's eyes narrow.

Tsuna jumps back as Hibari swings his arm down, and then ducks as once again the metal weapon is aimed for his head.

"Wao," Hibari says, a clear sign that he is interested.

Tsuna belatedly realizes that he has doomed himself.

/

When Tsuna is finally struck down by Hibari, he is utterly exhausted.

"Omnivore."

"Hiiieeee!" Tsuna responds.

"From now on, you will fight me before school. Do not be late."

Tsuna despairs.

/

"If Tsuna really is going to be a mafia boss, then fight me!"

"...Huh?"

The girl from before is standing in front of him, garnished in some kind of battle outfit.

"I will only accept Reborn being with you if you win!" Haru declares.

"Pass," Tsuna instantly declines. "You can have him."

"A mafia boss never turns down a challenge," Reborn chirps, stomping on Tsuna's foot. Tsuna mouths profanity in pain.

Tsuna is about to tell Reborn where he can shove that ideal when Haru goes and _falls into the river._

' _If you're gonna challenge me then at least wait until we're actually fighting to lose!'_

"The armor is too heavy!" Haru gasps, struggling to stay above the water.

Tsuna feels bad for her, really he does, but going in there would require physical contact, and he is so not up to that nonsense today.

Unfortunately Reborn has different plans because Tsuna finds himself pushed into the river, right next to Haru.

He grimaces as he reaches Haru, thankful for the clothing separately their skin from touching. He shivers from the icy water, trying to drag Haru to shore, but too weak to pull both of them along. Haru clings to Tsuna in desperation.

There's the sound of a gun clicking, and Tsuna turns to see Reborn pointing a Leon-transformed gun.

His vision blurs. " _Save Haru with my Dying Will._ " Tsuna doesn't even recognize the next few minutes occurring and he finds that he is on the ground with Haru, cold and wet. A breeze passing by causes Tsuna to realize that he is in his underwear.

"Reborn. What did you do."

"I shot you with the Dying Will bullet," there's a gleam in Reborn's eye that he really doesn't like. "When it hits you, you die, and then you come back to fulfill your last regret."

Why is he even surprised.

"E-excuse me!" Tsuna looks up to see a blushing Haru. "Thank you for saving me, Tsuna-kun! I believe that you're going to be a boss now!"

Tsuna groans. This couldn't get any worse.

"So, I've decided that I'll become your wife no matter what!"

He was so wrong, so terribly wrong. At this point he thinks he's done something to piss off Fate.

/

The date is October thirteenth.

"Sorry, Tenth, I have to go do something right now!"

"I have to go clean up, sorry Tsuna!"

"Haru's really busy! I'll see you later, Tsuna!"

"You'll never find me, gyahahaha!"

Bianchi didn't even bother coming up with an excuse, she just flat out ignored him.

"Everyone is acting really strange lately," Tsuna says, brows furrowed in thought as he treks home.

Could it be that they were hiding something from him?

"Oh well," Tsuna shrugs, unconcerned. It wasn't his business anyway.

"Everyone's preparing for a birthday party," Reborn says, popping out from a bush.

"A birthday party?" Tsuna asks.

Was it someone's birthday soon? Tsuna realizes that he hasn't really discussed birthdays with anyone, and he feels a bit guilty for not knowing.

"I only forgot to tell you," Reborn continues. "It's today."

"I see. Um," Tsuna hesitates.

"What is it?"

"Whose birthday is it?" Tsuna scratches the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Reborn blinks. "It's mine."

Ah, so that's why everyone was so frantic in getting ready.

/

"Happy Birthday, Reborn!"

Streamers flew through the air with handfuls of confetti. Tsuna huffs and brushes the colorful specs off of his clothes.

"Thank you everyone. Today I will be turning one year old," Reborn held up his index finger.

 _'_ _No matter how you look at it, that's a lie!'_

At this point Tsuna doesn't even care anymore.

"Now let's start the Vongolian Birthday Party. Whoever gets the most points for their gift wins, but the person with the lowest score dies."

 _'_ _What kind of party is that?!_ '

Good thing Tsuna had stopped to make his gift earlier.

Yamamoto gets a high score for bringing the sushi, Bianchi's new technique sets her at ninety, Haru's homemade outfits puts her above Yamamoto with an eighty-five, Gokudera gets the same eighty as Yamamoto with his magic tricks, and poor Lambo has only one point with his stick-thing.

"It's your turn, Tsuna," Reborn says cheerfully. "Remember, if you forfeit with no present, you get zero points and you'll die."

Tsuna grumpily pulls out a hastily wrapped gift. "Who do you think I am? Of course I got you a gift." Tsuna doesn't notice the surprise that briefly flashes across Reborn's features. Reborn unwraps the paper, staring at the present.

"A bracelet?" Reborn asks, carefully holding up the gift and examining the black beads and sun ornament.

"I made it." Tsuna's face heats up slightly. "When I was younger I used to make these when I was bored. The ornaments are kinda hard to do, but they're really sturdy so the sun won't break."

"Why a sun?" Reborn questions curiously.

"The sun reminds me of you, I guess," Tsuna shrugs. He had picked out the colors based on Reborn's numbers. He supposes it's a little messed up, but Tsuna thinks that black and yellow suit the hitman.

Reborn's eyes are shadowed. "...One hundred points."

"Eh?"

"As expected of the Tenth!" Gokudera praises.

"Congrats, Tsuna!" Yamamoto laughs, clapping him on the back and lurching him forward.

"Congratulations, Dame-Tsuna, you won the birthday party game," Reborn says, jumping onto Tsuna's shoulder. Tsuna leans away slightly so Reborn won't touch his skin.

"Speaking of birthdays, I think I'm forgetting someone's," Nana ponders, tapping her chin.

"Is it someone we know?" Haru asks absently, focused on the cake on her plate.

"I think so..." Nana frowns. "Tsu-kun, do you know?"

Tsuna blinks owlishly. "Another birthday?" What was today again? "It's October thirteenth, isn't it? I don't know anyone else's birthday that's in October."

"October..." Nana's eyes widen, guilt flooding her features. "Ah! That's right, Tsu-kun's birthday is tomorrow!"

Everyone except for Reborn stares at Nana in shock. "Huh? Is it really?" Tsuna frowns thoughtfully.

"You didn't know?!" Half the room yells. Tsuna winces.

"Well, I've never really celebrated birthdays that much, so..." Nana is twisting her hands in distraught while even Reborn stares at Tsuna. "They've never really seemed that important, and I guess I just started forgetting about them. By the time I realize I've gotten another year older, my birthday's already over."

Tsuna laughs sheepishly.

"Tenth!" Gokudera has tears flowing down his cheeks. "How tragic! You're so noble, Tenth! I'll never forget your birthday again!"

"We'll definitely have a birthday party for you tomorrow, Tsuna!" Yamamoto says determinedly. Tsuna inches away from the dedicated look in the baseball player's eyes.

"I'll cook a feast!" Bianchi announces.

"It's okay, you really don't have to," Tsuna insists, dread slowly filling him. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't want these people planning a party for him.

"I'll get the best present for Tsuna!" Lambo declares, causing a fight to break out.

"No way, the only one who knows the Tenth enough to get him a great present is me!"

"Ara, even though you didn't even know him enough to know when his birthday is?" Haru says slyly. Gokudera crumples to the ground, begging for Tsuna's forgiveness.

"Haha, but you didn't know Tsuna's birthday either," Yamamoto's smile is cold.

"Please stop," Tsuna says helplessly. His plea is promptly ignored.

"Hahi! Haru is Tsuna's future wife! I'm going to win!"

"..."

"NO WAY AM I LETTING YOU MARRY THE TENTH!"

"Hahaha, what are you talking about? Tsuna's gonna marry me, right?"

"HUH?! YOU'RE EVEN WORSE THAN HER, BASEBALL FREAK!"

"LAMBO-SAMA WANTS TO MARRY TSUNA-NII!"

This is actually his life. He has to live like this, with these people.

It's a depressing thought.

"As the greatest hitman in the world who knew it was Tsuna's birthday, I will be getting the best gift for Tsuna," Reborn suddenly says, interrupting the marriage fight.

"Et tu, Reborn?" Tsuna mumbles, burying his head in his arms.

* * *

* _the Parietal lobe is the part of the brain that recognizes sensations/body positions/objects, time, etc. while the Occipital lobe processes visual information (color, shape, distance, etc.) Please note that I'm a fifteen year old who only has google for help so I made up the whole medical part lol  
thanks for the support!  
please review!_


	5. Breathing

It turns out to be a lot harder finding Tsuna a present than anticipated.

"I really am a failure to the Tenth!" Gokudera sobs. "I can't even find him a worthy gift!"

Haru sighs dejectedly. "It's impossible. In the end, we really don't know that much about him, do we?"

They simmer in despair for a few for moments when a disgustingly cheerful voice calls out, "What're you guys so down about?"

Gokudera glares at the grinning Yamamoto. "What are you doing here, baseball freak?" He glances at the sky angrily, as if some deity is responsible for his bad luck. "Isn't it bad enough that I can't find the perfect gift for the Tenth?"

"You haven't found a present for Tsuna yet?" Yamamoto asks. Haru and Gokudera shake their heads, gloom overtaking them.

"Wait—you have?!" Haru shrieks, pointing an accusing finger at Yamamoto.

"Yep!" the baseball lover laughs happily.

"What are we going to do?" Haru moans tragically. "We only have another two hours before the birthday party!"

"Is it that late already?" Yamamoto says in surprise. "Man, I have to go help my dad close the restaurant! I'll see you guys later!"

They both stare after Yamamoto's jogging figure. "How did _he_ manage to find a gift for Tsuna before us?!" Gokudera pounds his head into the ground in frustration.

/

Tsuna knows what is going to happen when he walks through the door, and he is not looking forward to it. Knowing the people he's been surrounded with lately, this party is likely to be detrimental to his health. Not to mention the fact that there will probably be a lot of attention on him tonight, and his friends are known to be very touchy-feely people.

He shivers at the thought of another Bianchi-incident.

Taking a deep breath, he cracks open the door to his house and pushes forward, stepping into the house cautiously. He stares suspiciously at the lack of people, keeping his eyes forward as he slips off his shoes at the entrance. He continues forward towards the kitchen hesitantly, wondering if it would be better to just run while he can.

Before he can contemplate the pros and cons of this plan, he is showered with colorful strands of thin ribbon and flakes of confetti.

"Happy birthday, Tsuna!"

Tsuna tries to smile, but it probably comes out as more of a grimace. "Wow, thanks so much everyone. You shouldn't have." He stares at the – melting? – cake Bianchi is holding, her smile as sweet as the poison in the dessert probably is. "I mean it, _you really shouldn't have_."

"Do you like it?" Lambo asks with wide eyes. Tsuna can't look away from this deadly weapon. Curse his inability to be an outright jerk.

"Of course," he reassures the child, blinking when the rest of the occupants of the room light up and beam at him.

"Would you like some cake, Tsuna-kun?" Bianchi simpers, grinning. Tsuna turns a light shade of green as he scrambles to find a way to decline without sounding rude.

"Perhaps we should open gifts first?" Reborn interjects with his ever-present smile. Tsuna flashes him a grateful look, causing the smile to morph into an amused smirk.

"Me first, me first!" Lambo screams loudly, jumping up and down. He excitedly runs up and holds out the most poorly-wrapped present Tsuna has ever seen, but the proud look on Lambo's face causes him to internally melt.

He takes the gift and tears the wrapping paper carefully, staring at what was inside in bemusement.

Lambo looks at him expectantly. "Wow, this is just what I wanted," Tsuna says, still staring at the grape lollipops melted together into one big blob. Lambo shoots Reborn a superior look, and Tsuna is momentarily concerned that Reborn is going to shoot him, but in the end the pint-sized hitman ignores the child.

Haru gets him some kind of homemade cosplay; it's a sailor outfit, complete with black shorts and a cute little hat. Tsuna knows he will be forced to wear it in the future, but despite the despair he is feeling, he smiles and thanks her for the present. Gokudera is up next, and he is clutching his perfect-looking gift in sweaty, shaking hands.

Tsuna pales a little when he sees the extremely sharp knife, but he can see that the knife is expensive. It's strangely ornate for a weapon, he thinks, but it still looks useful. Maybe he can use it to cut up ingredients instead of enemies. Gokudera's shoulders sag in relief and his eyes light up in joy at Tsuna's positive review, and he is a little afraid that Gokudera is going to pass out from happiness.

In the background, he sees his mother switching out Bianchi's cake with an identical one that isn't giving off strange fumes. She catches his eye, and Tsuna has never loved his mother so much before. She really did care about his health! He thinks he's tearing up a little when Yamamoto proclaims that it's his turn to give his gift.

Tsuna's eyebrows furrow as he stares at the small box, wondering what could fit in it. Shrugging, he lifts the cover, freezing when he catches sight of the present.

It's a ring. Yamamoto gave him a ring. Granted, it was only a plain silver band, but why on earth would Yamamoto think to give him something like this?!

"Uh…" Tsuna doesn't know what to say.

"It's for our future wedding!" Yamamoto announces happily.

Tsuna blanches. Gokudera screams.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone had settled down enough to continue the party. Yamamoto is scratching the back of his head sheepishly and laughing at the glares directed at him.

"There's one last present, Dame-Tsuna," Reborn prompts, holding out a small rectangular box. It has plain yellow wrapping and an orange bow on top. Tsuna is a little hesitant, rightfully so, but he gives Reborn the benefit of the doubt and unwraps the gift. He's surprised to see a new iPod shining back at him.

"An iPod?" he asks, taking it out of the box and examining it with wonder.

"Listening to music might help with your headaches," Reborn explains simply. Tsuna's eyes feel a little misty at the thoughtfulness of the gift and he hastily wipes his eyes.

"Thank you," he mumbles sincerely, carefully placing the iPod back into the box. Reborn blinks and smiles a bit more, turning away and jumping back onto the couch.

"Who wants cake?" Nana calls cheerfully from the kitchen, and there's a scatter of people running to the now-edible dessert. Tsuna is made to blow out the candles and make a wish, and when he takes a bite of the cake, it's just the way he likes it.

It's nice to have friends, he thinks. A warm feeling is bubbling dangerously in his chest. He catches sight of darkening, colorful blurs.

…That's right. It'll only hurt that much more when he sees them die, so what's the point in trying?

His vision is blurred and distorted by the colored numbers.

/

"You are distracted," Hibari accuses him a week later after he is clipped with a metal tonfa in the arm.

Tsuna doesn't say anything, too busy panting on the ground. His entire body is exhausted from the early workout, and he feels a headache starting to build up.

"You are distracted," Hibari repeats, this time a little more irritably.

"Sorry," Tsuna says, placing a hand over his eyes. He can feel the puffiness under his eyes from lack of sleep, and he wonders how dark the bags under his eyes are today.

Although his birthday had been a happy occasion, it didn't take long for depressing thoughts to protrude his mind. He feels as if he's shutting down into apathy again, and he really doesn't know if that's a good thing or not. On one hand, he knows it's bad to repress emotions like he is, but on the other it helps with the hopeless thoughts he couldn't help thinking. Thoughts like 'Isn't it easier to give up?' and 'You're a hindrance to everyone anyway' are constantly running through his mind, and the numbness helps him ignore such negative things.

A shadow falls over him, and he uncovers his eyes to see Hibari crouching over him with a frown. There's a hesitancy in his expression that he's never seen before. Hibari reaches out to touch him, concern bleeding through his usual coolness.

Tsuna is stricken with complete and absolute terror as he realizes Hibari is about to touch him, and he jerks up violently, scrambling away. His leg catches on the rough texture of the cement, but through his panic he doesn't even notice. His breath is coming out in short, uneven gasps, and his head feels dizzy and light.

"Breathe, omnivore!" Hibari is in front of him again, wide-eyed. His hands reach out again, stopping when he notices the body-shaking flinch. He visibly lowers his hands and stares straight into Tsuna's eyes. "You need to calm down. You are having a panic attack. Do you understand?"

His hands won't stop shaking and he can hear his heart beating rapidly in his ears. He forces himself to nod and Hibari instructs him to slowly breathe in, and then out. He continues to repeat his instructions, watching Tsuna carefully.

He's forced to learn how to breathe properly again as Hibari guides him through calming exercises, and through the haze of his mind he wonders if the disciplinary president has done this before. For some reason, the image of Hibari calming down little birds pops into his head, and he barely manages to stop himself from letting out a hysterical giggle.

The shaking in his body gradually recedes and his breathing evens out. He stares at his hands as they tremble involuntarily. In the distance, he hears the bell ring.

"…Omnivore." Tsuna looks up at Hibari blearily, a wave of exhaustion hitting him. "You are not fit to be at school. I will escort you home."

Tsuna tries to protest, but he's suddenly too tired to muster up the will to do argue. He nods sluggishly instead, forcing his body to stand and ignoring the hand Hibari offers. He's sure Hibari is mentally noting his aversion to touch, but he can't find it in himself to care at the moment. He stumbles as he walks, barely noticing Hibari hovering behind him to make sure he doesn't fall.

The walk out of the school gates passes in a blur, and at some point both Yamamoto and Gokudera join the group. He hears Gokudera saying something furiously to Hibari, but he can't quite make out what it is. His head is hurting too much for him to understand his surroundings very well.

"Tsuna?" a voice asks worriedly. Tsuna turns his to look dazedly at Yamamoto. The taller teen makes a movement to put his hand on his shoulder, and even though he knows it won't affect him through his shirt, his breath pitches anyway and a flinch wracks his body. Hibari strides forward, grabbing Yamamoto's wrist and muttering something in his ear. His eyes widen slightly and his hand drops, and Tsuna relaxes as the reddish blue numbers whizzing around Yamamoto move farther away from him. He vaguely wonders why Gokudera isn't yelling anymore, but he pushes it off as they silently approach his house.

"Tsu-kun?" his mother asks in surprise when the door opens. Today is one of the few days that Reborn decided to not accompany the group to school, and he is sitting at the counter with a steaming cup of coffee. He places the cup down and says something to Nana; Tsuna is distracted by Yamamoto and Gokudera herding him to his room. He sees Hibari say something quietly to the pair before he reaches the top of the stairs.

He makes his way into his room, not really caring about his friends' presence as he collapses on his bed, exhaustion hitting him like a ten-ton bag of bricks. A blanket is pulled up over his shoulders, and he mumbles some kind of thanks before he succumbs to sleep.

* * *

 _hey guys, it's been a while since i last updated! i dont really have an excuse, but hopefully i'll be making it up to you. from now on i will be updating progress on my profile, although im not sure when the next update will be quite yet. also we managed to hit over 400 followers! that's insane!_

 _tsuna's panic attack was based off of my personal experience, and everyone reacts differently during episodes, so since i wasnt sure about other people's, i just tried to describe what it feels like for me as realistically as possible, although i didnt go into a lot of depth with it. this chapter was a lil sad lol_

 _thanks for your continued support! =)_


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